Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake Recipe (2024)

Delicious cake. We went with halved pears (much easier to turn)and we loved the way they looked. Only problem with the recipe is the instruction to let the cake cool for 30 minutes before turning it out of the pan. Because of a fear that the caramel-like honey/pear juice in the bottom of the pan would solidify, we turned it out almost immediately and it was perfect. The thyme (we used fresh- picked lemon thyme) was a brilliant addition.

you don't need to do all this simmering and pre cooking of the pears! you will end up with pear mush. Just place your pears over the honey glaze in an attractive pattern, pour over the batter and bake. Delicious.

Oohs and aahs, indeed! I was concerned that the recipe doesn't call for a leavening agent, but the cake texture turned out just perfectly. I used a cast iron skillet.

Fantastic - made it with my 12 yo daughter. Simple and delicious. Didn't let my pears get as browned as in the photo, but still soft and velvety. Took about 40 minutes to bake.

Worked perfectly with a nonstick pan to simmer and then transferred to a 9-inch cake tin for the oven. 1 cup of sugar is way too sweet!! Would be a bit better if reduced. The thyme was a great addition

The picture definitely shows the pears halved, not quartered. Quarters were much harder to move around but, the taste was delicious. I do think the batter was a little too thick, didn't really "pour" and the result was dry. What can I add to lighten the batter?

I agree with you about the pears being halved which is what the picture shows. I am sure it would not look as nice if quartered. There is really no problem turning it out of the pan after 30 minutes and it does let the honey set. I used D'Anjou pears which is also just fine and I agree that the tyme (I used English tyme) is a wonderful addition. This is a really nice recipe.

one of the best cakes I've ever made. worked great as a dessert for the jewish new year's feast.

You might have used too much flour. I've used 4 1/4 oz king arthur all purpose flour and the batter texture was perfect.

Followed recipe exactly, made start to finish in a cast iron pan. It looks gorgeous but too sweet for my taste, I would reduce sugar, and the cake crumb is a bit dense. The lemon zest is a welcome note from the main cloying overall impression, don't omit it!

I make this with some frequency. Sometimes I go with brown sugar and butter instead of honey because honey taste is too overwhelming for me. Like but not LOVE honey. I often have trouble getting this cake to release from the pan, so I have started to do this in my cast iron skillet lined with a sheet of parchment large enough to come over the top of the skillet. Then I can easily lift it out, set it on a plate and flip it.

Wonderful recipe, delicious cake! As others have noted, it's much easier and more efficient to do all the flipping with halved pears. Additionally, I followed the recommendation to let it cool 30 minutes and I was confronted with a very stuck cake. If you find yourself in a similar place, I recommend ~gently~ heating the skillet over low heat just to loosen things up and then flipping it out, it worked wonderfully. It was a delicious cake regardless

Amazing. Couldn't find Bosc, so just used red pears instead. Amazing. Served it with London fog lattes and everyone enjoyed it.

I also found 40 minutes needed to cook this cake. It's easy and 1/4 cup of honey seems to go a long ways.

I left the peel on by mistake and it was incredibly delicious, flavorful and tender. No problem slicing through it easily. It did come out grey-ish looking not golden and the kids refused to try it. I don’t know if that’s from the skins. I used a cast iron pan and followed the original recipe. Not a bite left over.

Okay, I've had a few traumatic experiences with flipping things, so I took Michael's suggestion and transferred the simmered pears to a springform pan with parchment paper, buttered for extra luck, for baking. It came out perfect — just like the picture! It was so delicious that even before Thanksgiving was over I was already looking forward to my leftover slice. I made the cake the night before, and it was just fine kept on the counter on a covered cake dish.

we made this for thanksgiving. it looks a little like boobs but it's delicious

Best cake I've made in a long time with some minor modifications gleaned from various comments. I took Jen's suggestion and added:1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon baking sodaI also followed her and other commenter's suggestion to use 2/3 cup sugar instead of a whole cup. The sweetness was just right.As Jen mentioned, it had great texture and was firm, but not fluffy and not at all dense.

Seeing that others had issues with the cake being too dense, I adopted another upside down cake recipe by Melissa and added 3/2 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon baking sodaAnd it came out perfectly texture wise. Fluffy but holds its shape. 2/3 cups of sugar was also the perfect amount of sweetness for me. I also waited ~3mins before flipping it out and some of the pears were stuck in the pan. But it was super easy to pry the pears off and put it back in its spot.

Has anybody made this recipe using pineapples instead of pears?

Disappointing. Followed the recipe exactly. The result: batter so thick I couldn’t spread it over the pears without disrupting them and a dense, gluey cake.

Recipe called for an intense honey so I used a forest, which overpowered the pear. Next time I’ll use a delicate flavor honey such as thistle.

Browned butterDid not roast pears (cooked in skillet, as directed)Ground 3 cardamom pods & added w/flour

This cake was beautiful, and, while dense, the flavor of the cake portion was delightful. I used not quite ripe Bosc pears and they ended up the perfect consistency. The only word of warning I have is against the chestnut honey—it has an incredibly strong almost musty flavor that is still very present in the finished cake. Be certain it’s a taste you enjoy before including!

Honestly, this just did not hit the mark and I am not sure why. It was dry, even though I only baked it for 20 minutes, not the 25-30. Where were all those juices I was expecting? The top was moist but those juices never penetrated the cake. It tasted good but was not great.I just could not get past the dryness. I used smaller pears that were not Bosc, perhaps that was the issue but way more than the recipe called for. It was not a fail, just a meh. Sad because I love Melissa's recipes.

This recipe is fantastic. I had some pears from a friend's tree that were ripe and needed to be used. The flavor of the thyme, vanilla and honey with the pears is delicious and the texture of the cake is lovely. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose. This one is a keeper! I did turn my cake out right from the oven, because I didn't want it to continue to cook in the hot cast iron pan.

This is a delicious, accessible recipe. I’ve cooked twice now, once I left the pears whole to mimic the photo, the second time I quartered as the recipe directs. I would probably rec quartering as I it was a little easier to fit in the pan and they cooked more evenly, but both were beautiful. In both instances some of my batter stuck to the pan at the flip, which made it a little less pretty, but overall so good no one is really sad about anything.

Delicious! Made with cake flour instead of all purpose and subbed orange zest for lemon. Will definitely make again with less sugar as I find that 1 cup sugar is a bit much with the sweetness of the honey.

could anyone comment on the quantity of flour? receipe calls for 1 cup and comments call for 4.25 ozhas anyone used chestnut honey? mine is from italy and very intensely flavoredthanks and happy holidays